In 2011, Nassim Taleb wrote about a concept he…

In 2011, Nassim Taleb wrote about a concept he dubbed "antifra gility." Taleb argued that just as some systems become weaker under stress from external forces, other systems gain strength under stress from external forces.

— from Takeoff Into Chaos · Everything is Fcked: A Book About Hope by Mark Manson*

In the book

Here is the most hopeful thing science has learned about turbulence, and it has a name now: antifragility. Some systems weaken under stress; others actually grow stronger from it. The goal is not merely to survive the shaking but to be built so the shaking improves you — the way a young venture learns fastest by failing fast and cheap, the way a family that meets hardship together becomes ever more resilient and agile with each blow it absorbs. — Takeoff Into Chaos

The highest form of this is not merely surviving stress but gaining from it. Some systems, Nassim Taleb observed, grow weaker under pressure — but others grow stronger, a quality he called antifragility, and that is the thing to aim for: not just to withstand the blow but to be improved by it. The strongest families and systems are built exactly this way — to become more resilient and more agile with each shock they meet and overcome, rather than more brittle. […] Stay adaptable. It is the adaptable who survive; shift to neutral and find the next step when you're stuck. Persevere to your second wind, and aim not merely to survive the stress but to grow stronger from it. To my children, and to theirs: — Failure & Resilience (Challenge/Failure/Perseverance/Accountability/Flexibility/Resilience)

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